Apparatus for burning crude petroleum



(No Model.)

N. WASHBURN. APPARATUS FOR BURNING CRUDE PETROLEUM.

L .r m m M m w n a m m & a ,3 WWW M w 5 e w M M i m w A w WV 19 Z 1mm... n 0 a N w u% 7 N. erms PhutoLflhagnpher, Washmgiam o. a

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NATHAN lVASI-IBURN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

APPARATUS FOR BURNING CRUDE PETROLEUM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 418,326, dated December31, 1889.

Application filed January 2, 1889. Serial No. 2951Z04- (N0 mode To allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NATHAN WAsHBURN, of Boston, county of Suffolk, Stateof Massachusetts, have invented an Improvementin Apparatus for BurningCrude Petroleum, of which the following description, in Connection withthe accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on thedrawings representing like parts. r

This invention has for its object to provide a novel apparatus forburning petroleum and other oils, it being especially adapted forburning crude petroleum containing heavy hydrocarbons.

Prior to my present invention I am aware that numerous attempts havebeen made to burn crude petroleum; but so far as I am aware suchattempts have been unsuccessful, owing to the imperfect combustion ofthe oil, the lighter oils being consumed, While the heavier hydrocarbonswere deposited in the burner in the form of soot or black residuum. Inmy experiments I have discovered and practically demonstrated that crudepetroleum may be successfully burned by regulating the supply of oxygenor air and controlling the direction of the flame, as will be described,by a suitable damper.

My improved apparatus is especially adapted to be used where a high heatis required such, for instance, as in furnaces. The oil to be consumedis fed into a preferably V- shaped trough or burner suspended in thecombustion chamber and provided, preferably, with an elongated openingor duct having'its side walls extended up into and down below the saidburner, the said duct or openingleading the flame from above to theunder side of the burner to thereby enable the said burner to be heatedon its under side.

The particular features .of my invention will be pointed out in theclaims at the end of this specification.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of one form of furnace provided with apetroleum-burner embodying my invention; Fig. 2, a section of Fig. 1 online 00 m; Fig. 3, a plan view of one form of burner; Fig. 4, a sectionof Fig. 3 on line 3 y; Figs. 5 and 6, modified forms of burners to bereferred to, Fig. (3 being a sec tion of Fig. 5 on line y y.

The furnace A, composed of fire-brick or other material capable ofwithstanding a substantially-high heat and provided with acombustion-chamber A, may be of any desired or usual construction. Thecombustion-chamber contains within it, as herein shown, two suspendedtroughshaped receptacles a a, constituting burners, they beingsupported, as shown, at their ends upon ledgesor bars a on the sidewalls of the furnace. The burner a is preferably provided with anelongated opening or duct a having its walls (r extended up into anddown below the bottom thereof, the upper ends of the said Walls beingextended, preferably, to nearly the top of the receptacle a. The burnera may be provided with an opening or duct a or it may be made withoutit, as shown in Fig. 2.

The oil to be consumed, preferably crude petroleum, may be fed into theburner a from a pipe I), connected to a suitable oil-supply,

the said pipe being in practice provided with a suitable cook or valve1), (see Fig; 1,) by

herein shown, by means of rack-bars c, in

mesh with pinions c on a shaft 0 provided with a handle 0 the saiddamper 5 being held in adjusted position, as shown, by a ratchet-wheelon the shaft 0 and a pawl 0 secured to the furnace. The upper damper ismovable in suitable guides o In practice I have ascertained that a mostperfect combustion of the oil may be obtained with aburner having theduct or opening a by adj ust-ing the upper damper b so that its loweredge will be near the level of the lower end of the walls of the duct(17, substantially as shown in Figs. 1 and 2,Whereby the air to supportcombustion is admitted below the burner to. The draft of air passingunder the burner a draws the flame from the surface of the burning oilin the burner a down through the duct a from which the said flame issuesfree from unconsumed car ICO bon and substantially white, thusindicating perfect combustion. By adjusting the damper b the amount ofoxygen or air supplied may be controlled, so that the desired amountthereof necessary to produce perfect combustion of the oil may beadmitted, which may be ascertained by the condition or appearance of theflame. The door 11 of the lower casting b may be opened at its bottom,more or less, to supply air to the lower burner a below the same, and bekept in position by the set-screw d. I prefer to employ the auxiliaryburner a, in connection with the burner a, to catch the oil which mayflow overthe top of the walls a the ignition of such oil in theauxiliary burner heating the burner a on its under side; but, ifdesired, the burner a may be entirely dispensed with and the supply ofoil controlled, so that only such an amount of oil will be admitted orsupplied to the burner a as will be consumed in the said burner withoutoverflowing the same.

The combustion of the oil is regulated chiefly by the damper 19 If it isdesired to retard the combustion or, as it were, to deaden the fire, thedoor 11 will be opened by means of the thumb piece or nut cl, so as toadmit a greater amount of air above the burner a than is admitted belowit, thus decreasing or substantially stopping the passage of flame downthrough the duct a to heat the burner on its under side, the said doorbeing moved into the dotted-line position, Fig. 2. When the door 19 isopened, only a surfacecombustion of the oil takes place, and the said surface-combustion is imperfect, owing to the excess of oxygen. and theheat of the flame is diminished in direct proportion to or according tothe amount of air admitted through the door 6 In this manner the heatderived from the burning oil may be controlled within-limits-as,forinstance, if a high heat is required the door 19 will be closed tocut off the supply of air above the burner, and if a low heat is desiredthe door will be wide open, while if. a heat between the extremes isdesired the door will be opened, more or less, between its extreme openand closed positions. The flame passing down through the duct CLX heatsthe oil in the burner a and converts the lighter oils into vapor, whilethe heavier hydrocarbons are heated to such degree as to disintegratethem or put them in condition to be easily consumed, so that the crudeoil supplied to the burner is wholly consumed, thereby obviating adeposit or residuum in the said burner.

By means of the damper, herein shown as having'a door, it is possible todetermine the quantity of atmospheric air to be admitted both below andabove the burner to establish and maintain more or less perfectcombustion.

Instead of providing the burner a, with a continuous flame-duct a I mayemploy a number of tubes at, extended above and below the bottom of theburner, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The tubes a in practice will beplaced substantially near each other to form practically a continuousslot orduct, and the said tubes in practice will be ofsubstantially-large size or area, so as to avoid choking up, whichpractical experience has demonstrated will take place if the tubes areof substantially-small area.

I claim 1. The combination, with the fire-box of a furnace, of afluid-burner located therein and consisting of a trough or receptacleprovided with a duct having side Walls extended up into and below thesaid receptacle, a fluidsupply for said burner, and a damper,substantially as described, adjustable with relation to the said burner,whereby the air to support combustion may be admitted under the burnerto draw the flame in the burner down through the said duct to effect aperfect combustion and obtain a maximum heat or may be directed downupon the oil in the burner to produce an imperfect combustion andthereby a minimum heat, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the fire-box'of a furnace, of a fluid-burnerlocated'therein and consisting of a trough or receptacle provided with asubstantially-continuous duct eX- tended longitudinally the length ofthe said trough and having side walls extended up into and below thesaid receptacle, a fluidsupply for said burner, and a damper, sub

stantially as described, adjustable with relation to the said burner,whereby the air to support combustion may be admitted under the burnerto draw the flame in the burner down through the said duct to effect aperfect combustion and obtain a maximum heat or may be directed downupon the oil in the burner to produce an imperfect combustion andthereby a minimum heat, substantially as described.

3. The herein-described fluid-burner, consisting of a trough-shapedreceptacle provided with a substantially-continuous duct extended thelength of the said receptacle and having side Walls extended up into anddown below the said receptacle, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

NATHAN WASHBURN.

\Vitnesses:

J AS. H. CHURCHILL, BLANCHE DEVVAR.

